Wake Up Amercia - Politicians Do NOT Create The Economy

Citizens of this great country must wake up and realize that politicans do NOT create the economy. In fact, they bleed it, more often than not, through frivolous and zealous spending.

Likewise, the elected representatives of Main Street USA need to realize that government does not affect the economy in ways they think it does.

What really moves the U.S. financially, in all ways, is the private sector.

A healthy American business front is the only thing that is needed to turn a poor economic environment into a strong and vibrant one.

Politicians generate tons of rhetoric about "jobs and the economy" and how they have plans to improve these areas for the people.

Factually, the only jobs created (or sustained) in any significant volume are in the private sector. And each and every job that the politicos create in the public area costs each and every taxpayer more than the overall benefits produced.

Capitol Hill has, for several decades now, grown the public sector into a giant labyrinth of the economy.

Any first year student of United States government knows, in no uncertain terms, that the Founding Fathers did not endorse a vast government body reaching into all areas of society.

Quite the opposite. The federal government was formed for a few specific reasons.

They had studied many forms of government, studied the rise and fall of government, studied what makes a government good or bad when they wrote and passed the documents creating the United States.

Some knew that any government body is not ideal. Witness Thomas Paine, who said, "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

The size and scope of government very much concerned them.

Consider that Thomas Jefferson said, "Most bad government has grown out of too much government," as well as, "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

Patrick Henry, fearing an overbearing giant, said, "The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."

They also knew that people of questionable character and morals would undoutedly gain entry to the public sector.

Noah Webster, the father of American education, wrote as warning, "If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for the selfish or local purposes; Corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded."

It is now a given that earmarks, which are selfish and local purposes, are aaatched by the hundreds (costing all taxpayers billions) to large pieces of legislation.

By studying well the past and present people are better able to forge the future. Here, in America, citizens need to realize that government today has grown, gradually over scores of years, into something too big to continue to feed. It has bankrupt this nation and yet those elected to represent and serve the people still expect (demand) taxpayers to provide vast sustenance for their "work."

Government must change. The United States must become, once again, "of the people, by the people, and for the people," as Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address, and not what it has eroded into - of, for and by the politicians.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Capitol Hill Egos Dangerous to America

The egos residing at Capitol Hill, those same egos voted to hold office and act as representatives of Main Street USA, have proven to be dangerous to America.

The theater and dramatics surrounding the "historic" agreement to lift the debt ceiling have proven once again that for a person to be a part of the House, Senate or White House they must have a huge ego that does not concern itself with what is right for the people.

Their egos dictate to them that they must be right and others must be wrong and damn the consequences.

For a group of supposedly bright people to allow the "debt crisis" to roll to the 11th hour-plus, knowing full well for months that August 2, 2011, would come and go is all the proof needed to brand politicians as egotistical-to-the-extreme.

Witness, there is nothing at all historic about lifting the debt ceiling. That has been done time and again to ensure that future generations of politicians can spend freely, without regard to the damage created for future generations of Americans.

What is needed in Washington DC is not another huge ego, but a leader who leads by example. A person who can cut waste in his/her own sphere (i.e., cut foreign travel by members of Congress, cut their own salary, cut their office expenses dramatically, eliminate taxpayers footing the bill for members of Congress to visit home, etc.)

And during all the "savings" announced under the "historic" deal there has been absolutely no mention of doing away with earmarks. Cutting those pesky pieces of pork would save taxpayers between $300 and $400 billion in a decade and be an immediate expense reduction.

There is no doubt that Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Madison and the other Founding Fathers are disgusted at the actions (as well as inactions) by those elected officials who put themselves above the citizens of this great nation.

Capitol Hill has a short memory. Do they not remember that they are servants of the people?

Over For Now.

Main Street One

The Preamble of the Declaration of Indpendence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

The Affordable Care Act & The Constitution

The stage is set for the Supreme Court to become involved, whether they wish to or not, in the decision of whether or not forcing citizens of Main Street USA to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.

While there certainly is debate centered around other portions of the incredibly massive piece of porked-out legislation, the rulings of two Federal judges that Congress has overstepped its authority by relying upon the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution (while two others ruled the opposite) all but guarantees the highest court's involvement.

Simply put, the Commerce Clause (Article I) grants Congress the power to "...regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes."

Throughout the decades the Supreme Court has used that particular clause very very broadly, including rulings on Depression-era farm quotas as well as bans on racial discrimination in the 1960s.

This Main Streeter finds it extremely difficult to fathom exactly how racial discrimination fits into the Commerce Clause. Whether one is Democrat, Republican or Independent, how could it be that human beings are considered as commerce?

In reality, the court used this clause because a company that was discriminating earned a majority of it's revenue through interstate commerce. That still seems a stretch when, in fact, the country was founded in the belief that all people are created equal. Consider that the 14th Amendement (1868) guarantees equal protection under the law and racial discrimination would quality as something which is not equal. It seems, therefore, that the 14th Amendment offers a quite superior legal standing to ban racial discrimination.

In an attempt to determine what may or may not have been included in the thoughts and intentions of our Founding Fathers regarding the Commerce Clause, the reference used was the American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.

It was thought that perhaps by using a dictionary from that time period there could be some light shed on the issue at hand today (and perhaps even some of those earlier court decisions that do not quite seem to fit).

The definition of Commerce is: "In a general sense, an interchange or mutual change of goods, wares, productions, or property of any kind, between nations or individuals, either by barter, or by purchase and sale; trade; traffick." It further defines inland commerce as: "...the trade of commodities between citizens of the same nation."

Turning a page, the definition of Commodity is: "...anything that is useful, but particularly in commerce, including everything movable that is bought and sold, goods, wares, merchandise, produce of land and manufactures. Unless perhaps animals may be excepted, the word includes all the movables which are objects of commerce."

Based upon the above definitions, which were used by those responsible for writing and implementing the Constitution it seems clear that mandating that a citizen of the United States purchase health insurance through the vehicle known as the Affordable Care Act is, indeed, unconstitutional.

It really is not even debatable.

That, coupled with the actual wording of the Article in question ("regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes"), indicates that Article I gives absolutely NO power to Congress to force citizens (i.e., individuals) to purchase anything.

Undoubtedly someone will be called upon, when all is said and done and attorneys for both sides have voiced their last convincing words, to write a decision. And that document will more than likely be scores and scores of pages, when, in fact, it boils down to just a couple.

And, as a last thought, allowing Capitol Hill to mandate what an individual must purchase opens the door for future edicts by those elected representatives who are supposed to be serving the interests of Americans, not dictating them.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Labor union activity paid by taxpayers

The video below speaks to a real issue here in Main Street USA.

Labor unions existing in the public sector.

Why these were ever allowed to come into being when one is using taxpayer money to fund wages is beyond, I believe, anything our Founding Fathers would have wanted.

The below is a direct quote from the YouCut website:

"Currently, some federal employees spend up to 100% of their workweek, paid by taxpayers, doing work for their union. Federal employees unions collect millions in revenue each year and spend significant amounts on political activities and lobbying, should they also be subsidized by the taxpayer for their official functions? In 2008 the Federal government spent $120 million paying employees for their time spent working on union activities (over five years this would total a minimum of $600 million.)"

This observation does beg the question: how is this allowed?

If it is known about, it should simply be stopped. Period.

Labor union activities are not listed in their job function. Thus, the simple way to deal with the problem is to make these federal employees cease the activity.

It is hoped that citizens of America have become so outraged at how their money is spent year after year, and how Capitol Hill can allow such (known-about) waste as the above, that votes are cast this November to elect only those fiscally responsible candidates--regardless of their party affiliation.

And to elect candidates who are not afraid to stop any form of corruption.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

To Usurp or not to Usurp, is that even a question

According to the Associated Press in a news item, "The federal lawsuit against Arizona's tough new immigration law focuses heavily on a question that has been in the spotlight repeatedly the past decade and dates back to the Founding Fathers: The right of the government to keep states from enacting laws that usurp federal authority."

It is hard to imagine where the federal government thinks it has such authority.

Those on Capitol Hill and in the White House would do well to re-study the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The States formed the federal government, called the United States of America.

The states gave the federal government certain rights.

Any rights not specifically granted the fed were reserved to the States and to the People.

As the 10th Amendement, Reserved Rights, states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

This is Civics 101, US History 101 and on and on. It is a basic within this free society.

Unfortunately, those in Washington DC seem to feel that the almighty federal government has limitless power to do as it wishes.

That is not the case.

Aside from the fact that the federal government does not have a case in suing the State of Arizona, this is a waste of taxpayer money.

Main Street USA will bear the burden of the costs of such a trial.

This senseless action by our elected officials shows that they are out of touch with reality...the reality of the United States of America and its Founding Fathers and the very documents that made this a free nation.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Happy Birthday, America! Politicians, Wake Up!

Two-hundred, thirty-four years ago, our Founding Fathers together signed a document declaring that a people are free to determine their government and that, in fact, government is only allowed by the will of the people.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

One very key ingredient in the quest for freedom was to break away from an oppressive government in order to establish one which derives its power from the people.

To wit: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

The word consent was fittingly and justly utilized by these astute men.

Though not a perfect foundation, as women were not afforded these same rights and all men (people) were not treated as equals as some were, rather, still enslaved.

However, their perception of government was remarkable.

These very learned men knew, through study of history, what a government must and must not do and should and should not do in order to survive.

And so, these 13 individual states united together to establish and form a democracy giving only certain powers to the federal government while keeping anything not specifically granted it to the states and to the people.

As the decades progressed, however, the federal government has grown to the point that individual liberty and the rights of states and citizens have been eroded and become limited. That is exactly what they did not want and, in fact, warned against.

America is still a truly great nation.

However, it is a nation where the will of the people is not followed. It is one where special interest groups wield unusual power over decisions affecting every person living in Main Street USA. It is one where back room deals in the hallowed halls of Capitol Hill decide the most crucial of actions and where billions upon billions of dollars are added to legislation to capture votes.

If pork and earmarks are needed to garner the necessary number of votes in order to pass then must not the legislation be flawed?

The taxpaying citizens of these United States of America desire a "more perfect union," not a larger federal government where their voice is no longer heard.

In order to achieve this end our elected public servants (not public rulers as some have tried to become) would be wise to re-study the very documents that were written and are the foundation for this nation and to then act as statesmen, not as politicos whose main objective is to become re-elected.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Independence Day - Birth of a Nation

As America's Independence Day draws near it is an absolutely invigorating activity to visit Philadelphia, where there is so much rich and vivid history regarding the Birth of a Nation.

Within just a few blocks a person can wander and see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, the home of Betsy Ross, and much much more.

Within the walls of the various centers are, of course, gift shops, where a plethora of history awaits anyone who wishes to discover what our Founding Fathers dreamed and envisioned for this nation.

Philadelphia, Birth of a Nation

One thing that all Americans should do is to re-read the Declaration of Independence at this time each year.

Below is the last paragraoh from that most valued written work, one that defines what these people were made of and what they most desired and, above all else, how they felt about their actions.

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

In this document, as well as the Constitution of the United States, it is well laid out that rights of the States and of personal liberties were absolute.

Politicians should well remember this as America has veered from its course.

And it must get back on track.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Spelling Bee Protest

The Associated Press ran a story with the headline, "In DC, even the Spelling Bee draws protesters."

The article did mention that there were only four of them and that they were peaceful.

I doest seem that today anything can be protested, even the way in which words have been spelled for hundreds of years.

The likely ringleader of the group was a former elementary school principal who feels that enough should be spelled as enuf and fruit as froot and claims that "the current language obstructs 40 percent of the population from learning how to read, write and spell."

Nowhere in the article is there reference to where the 40 percent figure comes from. Perhaps it is derived from legal and illegal immigrants arriving and trying to master American English.

A quick read through the over one thousand posts to the article show that the vast majority of Main Street USA does not agree with the four protesters.

Many people wrote about why we should not dumb down education even further than it already has been for decades. One person posted this: "I think this woman personifies everything about what's wrong w/ our educational system."

Perhaps the protesters should take a look at Noah Webster's 1783 "blue back" speller, the actual title of which is A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, to see what our Founding Fathers considered as essential for the education of American society.

Or, maybe they could muster the courage to take the 1895 8th grade final exam from Salina, KS. It is challenging to anyone, even those with a doctorate in education, and puts on display what students were expected to learn by the time they were teenagers. For those who are interested it can be viewed here: 1895 9th Grade Final Exam (Good Luck).

Admittedly, there are a couple of questions applicable to that particular time period and locale, but the majority of questions are for everyone's general education, including today. And, as is pointed out on the website, the school year was seven months long, leaving five months for planting, farming and harvest.

The above is one of the best arguments against statements that the current school year needs to be lengthened in order to properly educate our students, as proposed by the White House and Department of Education. (It is this bloggers belief that school days are too short and break and vacation time during the academic year is probably excessive.)

However, the point is that back then students had to master the basics in an equivalent period of educational time.

Today, as evidenced by years of various and sundry tests, they do not.

The wheel, so to speak, does not be to reinvented. It needs to be resurrected.

Over For now.

Main Street One

World War II Recognition

After visiting the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, and discovering the online recognition available for those who served through the registry, I felt compelled to share my family's contributions to that fight for world freedom.

The links below honor those family members:

My Father, Sid Welch, Major USAF, Retired

My Step-father, Ed Benham

Uncle Claude

Uncle Royce

Fortunately, none of them died in that conflict, though both Uncle Claude and Uncle Royce were recipients of the Purple Heart.

My father lost his life in an accident in 1971. My Step-dad and Uncle Royce died of natural causes in 2008 and 2000, respectively. Uncle Claude is still with us.

Photo From National World War II Memorial Website

Too often those of us in Main Street USA take for granted our freedom, not remembering what had to occur to bring about and keep those precious liberties we enjoy, including, but certainly not limited to, the great victory of our Founding Fathers and the Colonial Armies and brigades with the American Revolution, World War I and World War II.

Let us all keep in our minds and our hearts what those before us (and their families) have sacrificed, not just on Memorial Day, but each and every day as we give thanks.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Any Bets ? ? ?

While campaigning for the Oval Office, President Obama made this promise to all of Main Street USA:

"When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it, so that you know what your government's doing."

Any bets on whether or not the massive pork and earmark-filled healthcare reform bill will even make it to the WH website, let alone be on it for five full days prior to his signature?

Within the first two months of his presidency, of 11 major bills that the president signed, only six of them (55%) made it online for review prior to his signing them and none of them (0%) were posted a full five days.

And it has not gotten any better.

With the number of votes that had to be purchased to push this legislation through the House it is this taxpayer's opinion that most of us will not see the full bill for quite some time.

As has been stated, the Congressional Special Interest Group (the buying of Senate and House votes through legislation earmarks especially for them) is much more dangerous than any single SIG in existence.

This bill proves it.

The government will now be responsible for over 50% of our gross domestic product.

Certain civil rights, such as the right to choose if one wants healthcare coverage or not, are gone.

That all members of Main Street USA must pay for walking parks in some town in a state many have never even visited is not what this country should be doing.

Ad infinitum.

At a time when unemployment is over 10% nationwide, when state officials are unable to raise enough funds to cover bare necessities of what government should be doing, when city municipalities are not able to honor bonds issued and where our own federal government has been "borrowing" from the social security trust fund (to the tune of over three trillion dollars), our elected representatives should be focused on making effective financial cuts, not spending yet another trillion dollars we do not have.

Our Founding Fathers may have had it right placing "In God We Trust" everywhere.

Because politicians continue to prove they cannot be trusted.

Over For Now.

Main Street One

Long Ago Words Even More True Today

It offends me when speaking about our Founding Fathers to hear someone say, "But that was over two centuries ago, they had no idea what the world would become."

Is that so true?

One of the most insightful of our early visionaries of freedom was Thomas Jefferson. 

Below are a few quotes from Jefferson that are even more appropriate to today's world than they were in his own time (all emphasis added):

"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy."

"The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes."

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."

It is rather remarkable that words from a man more than 200 years ago could resonate so loudly and so true today.

The Founding Fathers did know exactly of what they spoke.

Over For Now.

Main Street One